We wore Vince out. Check how his usage spiked in 2011 and it was on pace for as much at time this article was written in early Nov. I think we should probably cut him, take the cap savings and invest in his replacement. He became non existent on pass rush, and lost a lot of ground against the run. 365 pounds, 32 years old, major injury, 8 million? Nope. Restructure? I don't think so, unless he wants to take the vet minny. Thanks for everything big Vince!

Wilfork was over used. Unfortunately, when your other DTs are guys like Ron Brace and Brandon Deaderick and Kyle Love you end up overrelying on the one good talent you've got.

Vince probably feels like he gave everything to the Pats (he really did) and got injured doing it, probably putting his future at risk, and now the Pats want to cut his pay. I can't blame him for being upset. Of course, it's the way football works. I just hope the Patriots treat the guy with some respect on the way out and at least give him the chance to explore the market for any alternatives. I'm not sure he'll find any, but keeping him locked up for the duration of the offseason to pressure him into accepting a deal he doesn't want would be (to use my wife's term) "unattractive."

If I were Kraft, I would meet with Vince, thank him for his years of service, tell him what we thought we could pay him this year, state that we want him to end his career a Patriot and hope he'll consider our offer, and then give him his release so he can look elsewhere, but tell him the offer will be open for as long as we can keep it open (not forever, but as long as we think we have a need for him) and we hope he decides to accept it.

This is basically what they've done with Edelman two years in a row. It seems like Vince deserves at least the same treatment given his contributions to the team.

Wilfork was over used. Unfortunately, when your other DTs are guys like Ron Brace and Brandon Deaderick and Kyle Love you end up overrelying on the one good talent you've got.

Vince probably feels like he gave everything to the Pats (he really did) and got injured doing it, probably putting his future at risk, and now the Pats want to cut his pay. I can't blame him for being upset. Of course, it's the way football works. I just hope the Patriots treat the guy with some respect on the way out and at least give him the chance to explore the market for any alternatives. I'm not sure he'll find any, but keeping him locked up for the duration of the offseason to pressure him into accepting a deal he doesn't want would be (to use my wife's term) "unattractive."

If I were Kraft, I would meet with Vince, thank him for his years of service, tell him what we thought we could pay him this year, state that we want him to end his career a Patriot and hope he'll consider our offer, and then give him his release so he can look elsewhere, but tell him the offer will be open for as long as we can keep it open (not forever, but as long as we think we have a need for him) and we hope he decides to accept it.

This is basically what they've done with Edelman two years in a row. It seems like Vince deserves at least the same treatment given his contributions to the team.

That sounds about right. Can't blame the front office for getting every year ounce of play out of him. I would have liked more depth for him the past few years, but BB's motto has always been, play your top guys as much as you can. The guys who are getting paid as the top players are going to play a majority of the snaps,that includes your all world 50 million $ TE on special teams up by 40 in the 4rth qtr! We can't like everything the coach/ GM does, but you take the good with the bad when he is this successful.

Wilfork was over used. Unfortunately, when your other DTs are guys like Ron Brace and Brandon Deaderick and Kyle Love you end up overrelying on the one good talent you've got.

Vince probably feels like he gave everything to the Pats (he really did) and got injured doing it, probably putting his future at risk, and now the Pats want to cut his pay. I can't blame him for being upset. Of course, it's the way football works. I just hope the Patriots treat the guy with some respect on the way out and at least give him the chance to explore the market for any alternatives. I'm not sure he'll find any, but keeping him locked up for the duration of the offseason to pressure him into accepting a deal he doesn't want would be (to use my wife's term) "unattractive."

It is one thing for a player to maintain their stance they should get paid for the high level of performance the contract calls for. But, when that level of play will no longer be possible, IE - be an every down player, something has to give.

I know many contracts reflect being paid for past excellence, but, they also expect continued high level play. Once a player has a drop off, there is a point where a team has to make a call. The Pats are doing that here feeling they can't be throwing good money after bad.

PS - Rusty.. do not mention Brady here. He still is being paid less than his peers at his elite level.

I thought it was semi irresponsible to play Wilfork the way they were the past few years, also thought the scheme was as well. This nickel base had us playing outside linebackers at end, this removed about 100 pounds of mass from the edges just in dead weight, then we had an undersized, less talented tackle playing next to Vince in the middle which opened him up to never ending double teams. Often we would place him over the center and allow him to essentially take on the entire O line by himself.

This has been the weakness of our defense for the last six years or so, it hasn't been linebacker play or defensive backfield play, we lost in the trenches.

Last season Vince finally got some help, we had the best defense since the mid 2000's, Vince goes down, Kelly goes down... our defense is done. We need to reload here and not just one person, we need two Vinces. I see this in management all the time, I would rather pay two people more money to do a job really well, than pay four people who can only do it marginally well.

Wilfork was over used. Unfortunately, when your other DTs are guys like Ron Brace and Brandon Deaderick and Kyle Love you end up overrelying on the one good talent you've got.

Vince probably feels like he gave everything to the Pats (he really did) and got injured doing it, probably putting his future at risk, and now the Pats want to cut his pay. I can't blame him for being upset. Of course, it's the way football works. I just hope the Patriots treat the guy with some respect on the way out and at least give him the chance to explore the market for any alternatives. I'm not sure he'll find any, but keeping him locked up for the duration of the offseason to pressure him into accepting a deal he doesn't want would be (to use my wife's term) "unattractive."

It is one thing for a player to maintain their stance they should get paid for the high level of performance the contract calls for. But, when that level of play will no longer be possible, IE - be an every down player, something has to give.

I know many contracts reflect being paid for past excellence, but, they also expect continued high level play. Once a player has a drop off, there is a point where a team has to make a call. The Pats are doing that here feeling they can't be throwing good money after bad.

PS - Rusty.. do not mention Brady here. He still is being paid less than his peers at his elite level.

I don't criticize the Pats for wanting to restructure Wilfork's deal or even deciding to cut him. I don't think he's worth an $11 million cap hit this year and I don't think you can run a team well if you don't ensure that the value you are currently getting from a player is commensurate with his current cap cost. So the Pats definitely have to do something with Wilfork's deal.

My only hope is that the Pats treat the guy well if they end up at an impasse. Refusing to release him in order to force him into accepting the Pats' offer or risking losing a whole season seems to me a less than honourable way to treat a person who has done what Wilfork hs for the organization to date.

Wilfork was over used. Unfortunately, when your other DTs are guys like Ron Brace and Brandon Deaderick and Kyle Love you end up overrelying on the one good talent you've got.

Vince probably feels like he gave everything to the Pats (he really did) and got injured doing it, probably putting his future at risk, and now the Pats want to cut his pay. I can't blame him for being upset. Of course, it's the way football works. I just hope the Patriots treat the guy with some respect on the way out and at least give him the chance to explore the market for any alternatives. I'm not sure he'll find any, but keeping him locked up for the duration of the offseason to pressure him into accepting a deal he doesn't want would be (to use my wife's term) "unattractive."

It is one thing for a player to maintain their stance they should get paid for the high level of performance the contract calls for. But, when that level of play will no longer be possible, IE - be an every down player, something has to give.

I know many contracts reflect being paid for past excellence, but, they also expect continued high level play. Once a player has a drop off, there is a point where a team has to make a call. The Pats are doing that here feeling they can't be throwing good money after bad.

PS - Rusty.. do not mention Brady here. He still is being paid less than his peers at his elite level.

I don't criticize the Pats for wanting to restructure Wilfork's deal or even deciding to cut him. I don't think he's worth an $11 million cap hit this year and I don't think you can run a team well if you don't ensure that the value you are currently getting from a player is commensurate with his current cap cost. So the Pats definitely have to do something with Wilfork's deal.

My only hope is that the Pats treat the guy well if they end up at an impasse. Refusing to release him in order to force him into accepting the Pats' offer or risking losing a whole season seems to me a less than honourable way to treat a person who has done what Wilfork hs for the organization to date.

I don't think an immediate release is going to happen. The Pats will wait for free agency to play out some more before making a decision. I'm sure they'd also like to hold on to him until the draft but that's a long way off.